SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Blake Snell struck out a career-high 15 in six innings in the San Francisco Giants’ opening 4-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies, and Hayden Birdsong fanned eight over five innings in a 5-0 win in the second game for a doubleheader sweep Saturday night.
Patrick Bailey hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the seventh inning in opener. In the second game, Tyler Fitzgerald hit his eighth homer in 10 games.
Snell had the most strikeout in the majors this season and the most for an outing of six innings or under since at least 1901. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner struck out 15 of 18 batters.
“Cy Young Award winner last year for a reason — doing stuff like this,” said Giants manager Bob Melvin, who also managed Snell last season in San Diego.
Snell induced 30 swings and misses, one shy of Tim Lincecum in the 2010 NL Division Series opener against Atlanta for the Giants’ most since pitch tracking started in 2008.
“Putting together some good starts,” Snell said. “I’m starting to have more confidence, understanding how to make adjustments quicker now.”
Snell noticed how many strikeouts he had and was attempting to top his prior career best of 13, accomplished four times.
“I wasn’t trying early on,” Snell said. “Last couple innings, I was really trying. I knew where I was at: I need to get 13. I want 13. After the sixth, I was well aware of what I was trying to do.”
Snell walked two while pitching shutout ball and lowered his ERA from 5.83 to 5.10. A 31-year-old left-hander, he signed a $62 million, two-year contract as a free agent but is 0-3 in 10 starts. spending time on the injured list with a strained adductor muscle in his left thigh and a strained left groin.
“He’s always been kind of a second-half guy,” Melvin said. “Last year, when he went on a run like this, not only was it similar to this type of stuff every night that he was either giving up no runs or one run, he was able to pitch out of jams. He was able to get a strikeout with a man on third. It’s kind of his forte.”
Snell said he’s not worried about being dealt ahead of the Tuesday trade deadline as long as the Giants string together some wins. Snell can opt out of his contract after the World Series and become a free agent, giving up a $30 million salary for 2025.
“We just got to win,” Snell said. “If we win, I ain’t going nowhere. At least I believe that.”
Bailey broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh with a two-out, opposite-field double to the left-center field gap off Justin Lawrence (3-4).
Matt Chapman homered in the second for the Giants, and Michael Toglia hit a tying homer in the seventh against Ryan Walker (7-3). Peter Lambert threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the eighth. Camilo Doval got his 19th save in 23 chances.
Birdsong (3-0) beat Colorado for the second time in a week. The rookie, who struck out 12 over six innings Sunday in a 3-2 victory in Denver, said that he picked up where Snell left off.
“I’m obviously not left-handed, I’m not Blake Snell — but I still have a curveball,” Birdsong said. “And that’s what they’ve struggled with the last couple of outings.”
Colorado has struck out seven or more times in 20 straight games, the longest active streak in the majors. The Rockies struck out 30 times in the doubleheader. The Giants’ 34 strikeouts over the first three games of the series is their most in a three-game span since 1975.
“We just got out pitched, we got outplayed all day,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “We scored one run in two games.”
Black said he was frustrated about the lack of offense, especially after the Rockies scored 20 runs against the Red Sox earlier in the week.
“Too many strikeouts, not putting the ball in play — which is the exact opposite of what happened on Wednesday against the Red Sox,” Black said.
Fitzgerald homered again Saturday, a day after he became the first Giants player to record seven home runs in an eight-game span since Barry Bonds in 2004. Mike Yastrzemski knocked in two runs, and Brett Wisely and Heliot Ramos also had RBI hits off Rockies starter Tanner Gordon (0-3) in Game 2.
“We got two wins today and one yesterday,” Birdsong said. “Put a statement out there that we’re here to win. We’re not just playing.”
Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar had hits in both games to extend his hit streak to 14 games, one shy of his career-high.
Colorado traded hard-throwing reliever Nick Mears to Milwaukee for minor league pitchers Bradley Blalock and Yujanyer Herrera. Pitcher Ty Blach was also designated for assignment.
Giants right-hander Mike Baumann was designated for assignment, and right-hander Spencer Bivens was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento.
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